Dell XPS 13 2-in-1 (2020) review: speedy, spectacular convertible

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Not entirely is the Dingle XPS 13 one of Dell's best-known laptops, but it's one of the unexceeded-acknowledged laptops, point. If you know anything about Windows laptops, you've likely heard its distinguish. Information technology's capital in pretty much every way, and it just keeps getting better.

So it's forgivable to hear about a "Dell XPS 13 2-in-1" and bear it's a run-of-the-mill XPS 13 that you can flip over or so. But the XPS 13 2-in-1 is very much a laptop of its own, with a different set of trade-offs and considerations from its clamshell counterpart. In some areas (like graphics performance), the convertible is a stair ahead of the standard XPS; in others (like the keyboard), it's conciliatory a bit. The optimal model for you depends on the type of tasks you're looking to do.

Edge-to-edge keyboard, galactic touchpad — the industrial plant.

This yr's 2-in-1 starts at $1,099.99 for a Core i3-1115G4 processor, 8GB of RAM, and a 256GB SSD. You can spec that clear skyward to $2,249.99 (listed instantly at $1,999.99) for a 3840 x 2400 display, a Core i7-1165G7 C.P.U., 32GB of RAM, and a 1TB SSD. You can too pay $50 extra for the white ("frost") emblazon rather than the silver grey and covert model and $60 extra to upgrade to Windows 10 Professional.

I have a model in the middle, containing the 1165G7, 16GB of RAM, a 512GB SSD, and a 1920 x 1200 touchscreen. That costs $1,649.99 (but is currently traded at $1,469.99 along Dingle's website). The regular XPS 13 with the cookie-cutter processor has just 8GB of RAM and is said to cost $1,499.99, but it's presently listed at $1,349.99. That means you're gainful $120 excess for 8GB Thomas More memory, and the otherwise benefits of the 2-in-1.

Before getting into that, I'll give you a brief summation of what's new from the last XPS 13 2-in-1. It's for the most part one thing: the processor. This 2-in-1 (the 9310) includes Intel's newest 11th Gen "Panthera tigris Lake" mobile chips. The CPUs bring Intel's top-in-form Iris Xe integrated graphics, which take in been the talk of the town since Tiger Lake's launch, atomic number 3 well as the Thunderbolt 4 standard. This 9310 is actually certified through Intel's Evo program (denoted aside a small sticker on the right palm rest), which is supposed to guarantee that a laptop meets the needs of an informal home or office user, in categories from connectivity to battery life and performance.

The ports support up to 2 4K displays and data transfers sprouted to 40Gbps.

Apart from that, the new 2-in-1 has largely the same look as its predecessor and the clamshell XPS, whole with a slim and sturdy atomic number 13 physical body, a 1920 x 1200 (16:10) Gorilla Glass screen, and four ports (two USB-C with Thunderbolt 4, DisplayPort, and Power Delivery, one headphone jack, and one microSD card reader). Dell has made a few tweaks as symptomless: the webcam now supports Windows How-do-you-do, there's a new "frost" color option, RAM has been bumped from 3733MHz to 4267MHz, the touchpad is quieter, and there's an updated microSD reader that Dell says wish deliver better performance. That's all recovered and good, but the processor is the star of the bear witness present — and it is a star.

For general performance, the 1165G7 handled my function workload, which includes a dozen-ish Chromium-plate tabs, a few new apps ilk Slack and Spotify, and some downloading, file copying, and other office-y stuff in the desktop, with no problem. I never detected the fans spin upfield or matte whatsoever heat unless I was running an intense program. This is the experience you'll have with whatsoever political machine with an i7, just you certainly aren't sacrificing some operation for this convertible form factor.

Heavier media work is where this scheme starts to stand out. The 2-in-1 took 10 minutes and 5 seconds to export our 5-minute, 33-second 4K video in Adobe First Pro. That's 38 seconds faster than the standard XPS 13 — effectively comparable. Both systems are faster than any 10th Gen Ice Lake laptop with integrated graphics, and they beat the Asus ZenBook 14 with the same processor (which took 11 and a half minutes). They also both lose out to the Weapon system-powered MacBook Melody (which doesn't even wealthy person a fan) and MacBook Pro, which finished the job in 8:15 and 7:39, respectively.

Where the 2-in-1 really differentiates itself from the clamshell, though, is gaming performance. You crapper really play a fair number of games along this laptop without needing to bump the resolution down feather. The 2-in-1 smoked the clamshell on Rocket League's maximum settings (an average of 120fps, to the clamshell's 111fps) and Conference of Legends (226fps to the clamshell's 205fps). You'll only see 60fps on either XPS 13 since that's the maximum their screens can showing, but those results show how untold higher Dell has clocked the 2-in-1 over the standard XPS.

The 2-in-1 is putting up such dazzling numbers that there are actually games where you'll see better performance than you will on the clamshell. It breezed through and through Overwatch's Ultra settings, averaging 71fps. That beats the standard XPS 13, which averaged 48fps on the same preset — a difference you'll find in gameplay. It also beats Lenovo's IdeaPad Slim 7 with AMD's eight-core Ryzen 7 4800U, which put up 46fps and really isn't too far off a system I reliable with the most powerful Panthera tigris Lake central processing unit (the Sum i7-1185G7) which averaged 89fps.

The rattling interesting news is that you can actually play Tincture of the Tomb Raider on this machine at 1080p. The 2-in-1 averaged 36fps on the game's intrinsical benchmark (at the worst-manageable settings). That's just two off from the newest MacBook Air with Apple's M1 chip (38fps), which has been outperforming 1165G7 systems across the board. Now, you may very well not want to play demanding titles alike Shadow of the Tomb Raider at 38fps, but you can play them along this political machine without feeling like you're watching a flipbook. That's a big accomplishment for these interracial graphics, especially considering that the canonical XPS 13 only averaged 22fps on the comparable benchmark.

Similar to that of the clamshell XPS, still, the convertible's cooling organization (including two fans, hidden vents in the hinge, and what Dell calls "an radical-withered vapor bedchamber") is being pushed to its boundary during these in flood-intensity tasks. During the Premiere Pro exportation and my gambling Roger Huntington Sessions, the CPU spent some clip in the high 90s (Celsius) and even collision 100 a few multiplication. This may cause problems for the XPS form factor down the line if Intel doesn't make significant gains in efficiency. Connected the plus side, the keyboard and touchpad never got hot at all. (The keyboard got toasty on the clamshell.)

So the 2-in-1 gives you better graphics performance than the standard XPS (too as a convertible bod factor) for sporty a slightly higher price. What's the catch? Thither are two worth considering.

The Dell logo is somewhat bigger than it was on the last 2-in-1.

The first is battery life. I averaged eight hours and 50 minutes using the 2-in-1 as my primary work driver with the screen at 200 nits of brightness. That's quite best among the Panthera tigris Lake systems we've seen so far, and it means you should get a full workday from one and only charge. Only it's a routine worsened than the standard XPS, where I ordinarily saw nine hours and 15 proceedings — a small difference but one that could be distinguished to students or sponsor business travelers who are looking for every snow leopard of juice they can get.

The secondment trade-off to consider is the keyboard. The stock XPS 13 has one of my all-time favorite laptop keyboards; it's snappy, quiet, and comfortable, with a real nice texture. The 2-in-1 has a different keyboard that Dell calls the "Next Gen MagLev keyboard." It has wider keycaps with just 0.7mm of travelling. It feels related to exploitation the old deep-visibility butterfly keyboard happening the 2019 MacBook Pro. Personally, I hatred this. Typing on the convertible feels comparable slamming my fingers onto flat plastic. But I begrudgingly know that both people (including Scepter surrogate editor Dan Seifert) favour these kinds of keys.

Overall, the XPS 13 2-in-1 9310 is an excellent Windows convertible. It keeps the slim, sturdy, premium build quality that makes the XPS line the best of the best while also delivering some of the best performance you bathroom get from an ultraportable laptop. It's a formidable competitor to Apple's groundbreaking MacBooks, especially if you're looking for a touchscreen and a convertible form factor.

A a few steps forward, a couple of steps back.

If you're deciding whether to buy the XPS 13 Oregon the XPS 13 2-in-1, the differences are simple — but they're also significant and worth thinking about. The convertible form factor is the most obvious preeminence, only I would argue information technology's not the most important nonpareil (unless your Book of Job requires tablet use). You'll be exploitation the keyboard a lot, so you'll want to work which one you prefer (if you've used MacBook romance keyboards and other MacBook keyboards, those are a rough approximation). You should also consider the sorts of tasks you'll constitute putting your system through and whether a prodigious increase in graphics functioning (especially with demanding games) is worth giving up a morsel of battery life. And course, in that location's the price departure.

Anyone who's considering an XPS 13 and thinks they might favor a transformable should decidedly consider the 2-in-1. Just don't assume they're the exact same package.

Photography by Monica Chin up / The Verge

Dell XPS 13 2-in-1 (2020) review: speedy, spectacular convertible

Source: https://www.theverge.com/21575308/dell-xps-13-2-in-1-2020-review-tiger-lake-specs-price-features